“Fennia? How are you here?” Vinny stared in astonishment at the red-haired girl in front of him, her swordwork smooth and practiced as she blossomed one sword-flower after another, forcing the fish-headed monsters back.

Her footwork shifted again and again, and her long red hair—its tips gradually fading into gold—swayed like a flickering flame. It was obvious that after her duel with Vinny, she’d put in a tremendous amount of work to sharpen her strength.

Not just in realm progression, either. Her swordsmanship, tactics, and combat awareness had all improved by a huge margin. Compared to their last fight, she’d opened a wide gap.

Looks like there was a reason she’d become more steady. The stronger a person became, the more they recognized their own smallness—and the more cautious and low-key they became.

That was what growth meant: constantly realizing how immature your past self had been. And it wasn’t just him. Everyone was growing. And that growth wasn’t only about strength—it was also about temperament. You needed both.

As for whether there were people who stayed stuck in place…

Vinny thought there definitely were.

“That’s what I want to ask you.” Fennia swung her [Refined] knight sword. Several orbs of light swept past; just grazing the fish-headed monsters’ bodies, they charred and roasted those slick scales. Very quickly, Vinny caught the smell of grilled seafood.

That magic was [Sanctified-Element Quench].

Vinny remembered that the minimum realm needed to learn this light-element spell was high-tier Sorcerer-class. It was powerful, and it dealt extra damage to demonic-type enemies. Even so, most people only learned it after reaching the Magus realm.

Why was Fennia here?

Shouldn’t the only people dragged into this strange world be the few of them who were playing the game?

Or was it…

“Fennia, how did you get into this world?” Vinny asked. “Did you also see that bizarre dark cube?”

“A cube? You saw that thing reeking of wickedness too?” Fennia kept knocking back the fish-headed monsters trying to close in as she spoke with Vinny. “If you mean a strange, dark, ominous cube—then yes.”

Vinny braced himself on Frostfang behind her, careful not to get in her way. “Where did you see it?”

Vinny had assumed only the people playing the game had seen that cube and been sucked into this weird world. Now it looked like that wasn’t the whole story.

“Me?” Fennia recalled. “I remember I had nothing to do in my room, so I washed up and went to sleep. In the blurry haze of a dream, I saw the strange dark cube you’re talking about.”

“And then you got sent here too?”

“Now isn’t the time for that, Vinny.” Fennia raised her sword to catch the huge mouth and jagged teeth of a fish-headed monster lunging at her.

Vinny knew it wasn’t the time either. He’d been fixating on the wrong thing. He grit his teeth and drove a thrust straight through the monster’s belly, lifting it and flinging it away.

Their counterattack seemed to enrage the remaining fish-headed monsters. With an indescribable, piercing shriek, movement surged from every °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° direction.

Vinny knew what it meant.

These scaly fish-things were calling for reinforcements again.

“How long have you been slaughtering fish here?” Vinny asked reflexively as he turned, gripping the spear with both hands to guard Fennia’s back.

Fennia did the same—back-to-back with him. Her fingers formed several magic runes as she chanted. A few healing light-orbs flowed into Vinny’s body, and in an instant he felt as if he’d been bathed in spring sunlight—like a well of living water had poured over his head. The drained heaviness in his body eased dramatically.

“Thanks,” Vinny said.

“You looked in really bad shape.” Fennia stayed back-to-back with him. “Did you run into some brutal fight? Something that could push you into a corner—did it also have Magus-realm strength?”

“Way more than that.” Vinny remembered the scene. “For this young master to crawl away alive, that was already luck on top of luck.”

Vinny had no idea what the thing lurking beneath the sea had been. But fortunately, it hadn’t had the intent to kill him—or maybe, in its eyes, he was too small. No better than a mayfly. Not even worthy of being a target. A couple unconscious movements had nearly taken his life.

People said that after reaching the Magus realm, most entered a special period—an inflated mindset phase. The younger they were, the worse it was. They started thinking they were invincible, unmatched.

That lasted until a stronger person beat the arrogance out of them. Especially when a newly advanced low-tier Magus got utterly toyed with by a mid-tier Magus—then the newcomer finally realized how ridiculous their pride had been. Just one realm apart, and they’d be hung up and beaten like a child.

And once you realized you weren’t special—that you still had to obey the law of realm hierarchy—you slowly woke up.

“You’re insanely unlucky.” After a brief silence, Fennia asked, “What did you run into?”

“Something pretty incredible.” Vinny half-joked. “But I wouldn’t call it unlucky. I’m alive, aren’t I? Running into something like that was good too—gave me perspective. Keeps me from hitting the Magus realm and getting the same kind of big head everyone else gets.”

As he spoke, he swept his spear sideways, flinging out a crescent arc of icy moonlight. Cold radiance surged from the tip, raising frost and freezing a line of scaly fish-monsters in place.

[Rimefrost Full-Moon Slash]

He was in the Magus realm now. His mana capacity wasn’t what it used to be. Even after blasting out so many spells earlier, he still had mana left to use.

Hearing that, Fennia didn’t reply. She swung her sword like a bat, smashing a leaping fish-monster into paste.

[Stored-Light Smite]

“What?” Vinny asked.

“Nothing.” Fennia lowered her blade. “It’s just… I feel like your changes these past days have been really big.”

“Same to you.” Vinny said. “You even learned [Sanctified-Element Quench]. That means you’ve been working hard.”

“You seem pretty interested in light-element magic.” Fennia raised an eyebrow.

Vinny didn’t answer.

Of course he was interested.

After all, he also had a [Saint’s Envoy] Spirit Soul—and his [Saint’s Envoy] was the origin-grade [Saint’s Envoy], at that.

As the two of them killed more and more, more and more fish corpses piled on the ground. But the scaly fish-monsters surrounding them didn’t seem to decrease at all. The more they killed, the denser the swarm became. Even when the corpses piled up like a small hill, there were still massive numbers pressing in.

Soon, both of them began to show signs of slipping.

Fennia hacked and hacked—then realized her sword could no longer cut.

Her blade wasn’t enchanted. It wasn’t even a [Magic Tool]. It was just a fairly good [Refined] knight sword.

This sword had been with her for a long time. She was deeply attached to it. It was the highest-quality sword she’d ever used.

And now, she’d hit a wall.

It couldn’t cut through these monsters’ scales anymore.

On top of that, prolonged combat drained stamina and scattered focus, leading to mistakes.

That was exactly what happened to Fennia. She failed to notice a scaly fish-monster attacking from her right. By the time she reacted, she could only raise her bracer to block its sharp beak and teeth.

But that meant her arm was pinned—she couldn’t move it. She had only one hand free to hold her sword.

And the other scaly fish-monsters weren’t going to miss the perfect opening their companion had created.

At that moment, three ice chains snapped in—precisely locking down three scaly fish-monsters trying to take advantage. A burst of low temperature froze their bodies solid, linking them together.

Fennia glanced back.

It was Vinny.

He held Frostfang in one hand, fighting off the scaly fish-monsters charging in. With the other hand, he split his focus to cast [Congealed-Ice Shackles] and help her out.

Even while fighting the others, he’d been keeping a faint, constant awareness on her side?

After a brief hesitation, Fennia kicked the monster off, then triggered [Stored-Light Smite] and cut it down.

She glanced at Vinny at her side—and realized he wasn’t facing the same “can’t break defense” problem at all. That ice-crystal-fang spear was unstoppable in the swarm, cutting through everything. These monsters were like fish on a chopping board meeting a razor-sharp cleaver—one exchange, and they were filleted open.

Only then did Fennia remember what her elders had told her: how much a weapon could elevate someone, and how if a weapon couldn’t keep pace with your realm progression, it would drag you down.

Now she understood it deeply.

If she didn’t use magic, dealing with swarms of scaly fish-monsters became extremely hard, because ordinary slashes simply couldn’t do anything to them anymore.

To kill enemies, she had to use magic—and her kill efficiency dropped sharply. And it also became a harsh test of mana reserves.

“Your sword’s failing you.” As the pressure on Fennia spiked, Vinny noticed the problem quickly and saw what was wrong. “It can’t keep up with your strength.”

“Next time, get a new one.” As he spoke, Vinny turned and split the monsters crowding Fennia apart.

He’d been taking it for granted.

After all, he’d gotten Frostfang—a top-grade [Magic Tool]—right at the start. He’d never had weapon anxiety. In terms of weapon-based combat power, he’d always been maxed out.

But other people weren’t like that.

If nothing else, among students in his year, most were still using [Refined] weapons. And as for commoner students… some might only be using [Mundane] iron.

“Do your actual job.” Vinny summoned [Armor Fortress], taking on the pressure Fennia would’ve had to share.

The scaly fish-monsters opened their jaws and bit down on [Armor Fortress], only to find it completely impenetrable. No matter how hard they tried, their fangs couldn’t pierce it. When they forced it—

Crack.

Their own teeth snapped.

“Pathetic.” Vinny whipped his arm, sweeping Frostfang

in a wide arc and blasting the monsters surrounding him away.

Fennia understood what he meant by “your actual job.” After all, [Saint’s Envoy] was primarily support-oriented—though she walked a holy-knight route. She knew few healing spells; most of what she’d learned was combat-type magic.

“Vinny,” Fennia said. “These monsters… we can’t kill them all. And the ones rushing in to attack us feel like they’re getting stronger.”

“I know.” Vinny stared at the endless flood surging toward them and steadied his breath.

“You hold the rear and support me. We’re cutting a path out!”

As he spoke, Vinny sprang upward.

[Annihilating Heavy Stomp]

BOOM BOOM BOOM!!

Vinny slammed down hard. [Excellent]-grade earth-element power detonated, shaking a wide area and blasting the surrounding scaly fish-monsters into fragments that scattered through the air.

“Follow me! We’re breaking out from here!”

Fennia followed immediately.

In a low-magic era where most people couldn’t use magic, [Armor Fortress] was a tank.

These scaly fish-monsters only attacked with teeth and claws, and all of it was useless against [Armor Fortress]. Swords and blades couldn’t harm heavy armor like this—let alone when Vinny’s compatibility with [Armor Fortress] was one hundred percent. It strengthened as Vinny’s realm strengthened. After several major-version buffs, against physical attacks, [Armor Fortress] was unbreakable.

Vinny slaughtered his way forward. Fennia held the rear behind him, but most of the pressure was drawn to Vinny. From time to time, Fennia cast [Intermediate Healing Light] to restore him, then blocked any scaly fish-monsters that slipped through.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

The two of them fought their way through, carving a bloody road through the fish swarm. And then, at that moment, a series of earthshaking impacts rolled in, spreading like shockwaves.

“Vinny.” Realizing which direction the sound came from, Fennia looked up—and her pupils shrank.

“What?” Vinny followed her gaze. When he saw the massive figure, towering as if it reached the heavens, he forgot to even counterattack.

Blue-white sharkskin, packed with wrinkles. Deep, dark eyes with no pupils. Jagged teeth jutting past its lips. Horns pointing toward the sky. A gigantic dorsal fin on its back.

It felt like every single breath it took could trigger tsunamis and landslides.

“That is…” Vinny whispered in shock. “What is that?”

That towering shape—like a shark, yet not a shark—like a pillar holding up the sky.

Fortunately, that creature hadn’t noticed them.

Otherwise, there was no chance they would survive.

Vinny thought that instantly.

They had to leave before that thing noticed them—otherwise, they were finished.

But what could they do now?

Vinny glanced at Frostfang in his hand.

As expected… he still had to use it.

“Fennia—hold onto me!”

“?” Fennia clearly didn’t understand what he was planning.

“No—not hold onto me. Hug me tight. No time to explain!”

Fennia knew this wasn’t the moment to think about anything else. She did it—wrapping both arms around Vinny’s waist from behind.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep